Conservation Voters of BC launches "Anybody But Carole" campaign

Frustrated by what they see as a failure in leadership by the BCNDP on the issue of climate change, the high profile Conservation Voters of BC announced today that they are endorsing “Anybody But Carole” in NDP leader Carole James riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill.

The group also announced that they will not be endorsing any NDP incumbents that were members of the past caucus.

“As leader, the decision to position the NDP campaign against world-leading climate policies while not putting forward improvements or better alternatives is on her shoulders. We do not endorse Carole James for re-election.

Due to the New Democrats’ failure to be leaders in promoting real solutions to global warming we cannot endorse any NDP incumbents that were members of this past caucus. We believe the party needs new leadership and new voices that take a more urgent, principled and collaborative approach to meeting the challenges of climate change.”

“The time for partisan politicking on the back of the climate crisis is over,” said Naomi Devine, Director, Conservation Voters of BC. “All parties must respond to the strong environment values that British Columbians hold.”

The Tyee is better at cutting through the climate change spin then this website is.

How come no one here has ever written about Campbell’s claims that extracting natural gas and widening highways will lead to C02 reductions? Isn’t that the kind of green spin that desmogblog prides itself on cutting through?

“Natural gas development in north-eastern B.C. and transit opportunities created by the Port Mann bridge expansion are important parts of the [greenhouse gas reduction] strategy, Campbell added.”

“Forcing energy giant Enbridge to postpone its proposal to build a pipeline from the tar sands, across BC, to Kitimat.”

“Forcing Royal Dutch Shell to suspend Coalbed Methane development in the Sacred Headwaters, the headwaters of three of worlds most important salmon bearing rivers…”

It is interesting that the CVBC would endorse Barry Penner, considering his government’s vocal support for Coalbed methane extraction, as evidenced by this post on the BC Liberal campaign site:

“NDP leader Carole James is being completely dishonest once againwhen she slams responsible coalbed methane gas (CBG) exploration in B.C. Here’s the truth:

A typical commercial CBG project can create 150 jobs for 2-5 years of development and 25 jobs in ongoing production.

B.C.’s resource potential of CBG is estimated to be enough to heat 10 million homes for 100 years.

The Barry Penner endorsement is especially interesting, considering his government’s positions on offshore oil and gas development, as noted in this Feb. 5, 2009 story in the Georgia Straight:

“The (Northren Gateway) pipeline fits neatly within the B.C. Liberals’ energy game plan, which could have not only pipelines linking the coast to Alberta but also drilling rigs in Hecate Strait east of the Queen Charlotte Islands, an activity that has been off-limits for more than 30 years because of federal and provincial moratoriums on offshore oil and gas exploration and development. That’s why in the B.C. Energy Plan, the government promises to work “to lift the federal moratorium on offshore exploration and development and reiterate the intention to simultaneously lift the provincial moratorium.”

I say ‘interesting’ because Horter’s own environmental organization is engaged in a high profile “No Tankers” campaign to prevent oil tankers from BC waters. The BC Liberals proposed pipeline and offshore oil driling platform are policy initiatives that are at the core of his group’s very existence.

Horter, Berman, the Suzuki Foundation, the Pembina Institute and DeSmog Blog are all hypocrites in my view – carrying out an “Anyone but NDP” campaign, to help re-elect the Cambell Liberals, who have an abysmal record on the environment, and whose policies would dramatically increase GHG emissions, not curtail them.

More interesting tidbits on the Horter file… it seems that the very organization that Horter heads as Executive Director of the Dogwood Initiative is publishing an analysis on it’s front page that say “Carbon taxes don’t work”. A short excerpt from the conclusion:

“In summary, carbon taxes can’t work, they don’t meet the crieria. The related uncertainties I have identified are insurmountable. Economic modeling and forecasting are already rife with inherent uncertainties that will compounded by the unprecedented unknowns of unavoidable global warming both in the biophysical world and the world of politics and international governance. Any attempt to solve any of these problems means making the tax regime more complicated, and so less transparent. Worse, any government’s credibility will become progressively stretched every time it has to change a tax structure that hasn’t achieved the necessary emission reductions-probably every year or so for the next 40 years.

“By comparison, the ‘Cap and Dividend’ system does a far better job of meeting the five criteria, readily lending itself to effective implementation of a scheduled series of known specific emission reductions over time, and with a much greater likelihood of maintaining transparency, fairness and social acceptance throughout. Now is the critical time to choose a path that works over one that demonstrably will not.”

So, if Horter’s own organization is saying that carbon taxes won’t work, where does he get off with his extremely partisan “Anybody but Carole James” campaign? Do you think he’s been offered a position on the Liberal’s climate change implementation panel, should they win?

"Fossil-fuel companies have spent millions funding anti-global-warming think tanks, purposely creating a climate of doubt around the science. DeSmogBlog is the antidote to that obfuscation." ~ BRYAN WALSH, TIME MAGAZINE